You check the timestamp of the last post in the thread. A week after the supposed end of the world (the Mayan calendar thing). One user wrote: “Glad the world didn’t end. My son hasn’t finished all the Backyardigans episodes yet.”
You still have that drawing. It’s in a box in your closet, behind old yearbooks. You keep scrolling. The archive has everything. The “Nick Jr. Boombox” – a Flash music player where you could drag and drop songs from The Backyardigans and Jack’s Big Music Show . The “Alphabet Rain” game from The Fresh Beat Band . A broken link to a “Nick Jr. Parents Newsletter” that no longer subscribes. nick jr 2012 internet archive
The comments are time capsules. References to Team Umizoomi that no one makes anymore. A lost argument about whether Bubble Guppies or Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom was superior. Someone’s signature line: “Proud mom of two preschoolers!” That mom’s kids are in high school now. Maybe college. You check the timestamp of the last post in the thread
The page is a kingdom of primary colors and rounded corners. There, in the center, is the “Video” button—a chunky, friendly rectangle. To the left, the “Games” button. And above it all, a rotating carousel of faces you haven’t thought about in a decade. My son hasn’t finished all the Backyardigans episodes yet
You’ll click it again. And you’ll hear the xylophone. And you’ll be home.
You download it. It’s a grayscale maze. Dora needs to get to the library. You remember printing this exact maze in 2012. Your mom used too much ink, and she got annoyed. You traced the path with a crayon. Then you drew a rocket ship next to Dora because you thought she’d look cooler with one.